Victorian Chicken Pilau
Victorian Chicken Pilau is a traditional Anglo-Indian recipe from the 1860s for a for the classic dish of boiled chicken served with spiced rice cooked in the chicken stock. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Anglo-Indian version of: Victorian Chicken Pilau.
prep time
10 minutes
cook time
20 minutes
Total Time:
30 minutes
Serves:
4
Rating: 
Tags : CurrySpice RecipesChicken RecipesFusion RecipesBritish Recipes
This is a traditional Anglo-Indian recipe redacted from the volume:
THE INDIAN COOKERY BOOK: A Practical Handbook to The Kitchen in India (author unknown), published by: WYMAN & CO., HARE STREET CALCUTTA circa 1869.
Original Recipe
12.—Chicken Pellow
Take a good-sized chicken; clean, truss, and boil it with one pound of beef in two cupfuls of clean
water, seasoning it with onions, ginger, and salt. When sufficiently cooked, but yet quite firm,
remove the chicken, and set it and the gravy aside. Cut up twelve onions lengthways into fine slices.
Warm your pot; then melt in it two chittacks or four ounces of ghee, and, as it bubbles, throw in the
sliced onions and fry to a light brown; remove and set aside. Then put in half a pound, or a coonkee,
or the best bassmuttee or cheeneesuckur, having drained away all the water in which it was washed,
and fry. On the rice absorbing the ghee, throw in a few cloves, four or five cardamoms, half a dozen
small sticks of cinnamon, some peppercorns, a blade or two of mace, and one dessertspoonful of
salt. Mix up the whole, and pour over it the gravy in which the chicken and beef were boiled, or as
much of it only as will entirely cover the rice; close the pot immediately with a close-fitting cover,
and set on a slow fire. As the gravy continues to decrease or to be absorbed, so keep reducing the
fire, shaking up the pot occasionally, or stirring its contents, to prevent the pellow from burning.
Brown the boiled chicken in a pan with ghee or butter, and serve up as follows:—
Place the chicken, either whole or cut up, on the centre of a dish, covering it with the pellow; strew
over it the fried onions, garnishing it besides with two hard-boiled eggs, cut into halves, or in some
device, and with half a dozen bits of finely-sliced and fried bacon, to suit the taste of those who like
the latter.
Modern Redaction
Ingredients:
1 small chicken
250g stewing beef
500ml water
1 bay leaf
1 onion, quartered (no need to peel)
1 thunb-sized peice of ginger, chopped
1 tsp salt
3 onions, finely sliced into strips
115g ghee
225g basmati rice, thoroughly washed
3 cloves
4 cardamom pods, crushed
2 blades of mace
2 cinnamon sticks
Method:
Combine the chicken, beef, water, bayleaf, onion, ginger and salt in a large pot, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover with a tight-fitting lid and cook for about 30 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through but still remains firm.
Remove the chicken and beef, drain the liquid and set aside.
Heat the ghee in a pan. When hot add the onions and fry for about 10 minutes, until nicely browned and just beginning to crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Add the rice and stir to coat in the ghee. Once the rice has absorbed all the ghee add in the spices and stir to combine. Pour in enough of the chicken cooking liquid to cover the rice (if insufficient, top up with water).
Cover the pot with a sheet of kitchen foil, cover with a tight-fitting lid and cook over low heat for about 20 minutes, or until the rice is tender. During this time carefully shake the pot to re-distribute the rice and ensure it's not burning on its base.
In the meantime, cut the chicken up into serving-sized portions. Arrange these on a warmed serving plate.
When the rice is cooked, fluff up with a fork then spoon around and over the rice. Garnish with the fried onions and serve.
If desired, you can garnished with a few hard-boiled egg halves. If you like your rice yellow, add a tsp of turmeric to the chicken and beef stock before pouring over the rice.
Find more Victorian Recipes Here and more Curry Recipes Here. For the original version of The Indian Cookery book see my The Indian Cookery Book main page.
